Hunt is the new band of Susanna Brandin from Winter Took His Life and "Ashes of a secret heart" is the title track to their debut EP. It's not a huge departure from Susanna's previous project -- we're still very much in slowcore territory -- but the full-band instrumentation allows her to explore much bigger dynamics. This song in particular takes a little while to get going, but when it does, oh does it ache! The pain, loneliness and 2nd guessing is further magnified by Jonas Odhner's (Sonores) superbly ethereal production, as he ably captures the final swell of the music as it drifts to its conclusion, a like a wake breaking on the shore. This is beautiful melancholy, as Scandinavia does best.
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Makthaverskan - Inside of me
03. Swedish House Mafia - One
04. Elias & the Wizzkids - Waste of time
05. TALK 2
06. The Animal Five - Dancing on my own
07. Miasmal - Creation of fire
08. The Aches - Count slowly to ten
09. Karin Ström - Reptilian brain
10. TALK 3
11. Dear Euphoria - No more time to weep
12. Delay Trees - Cassette 2012
13. Sort Sol - Marguerita
14. TALK 4
15. The Tallest Man on Earth - The wild Hunt
16. Cut City - The sound and the sore
17. The Hives - Civilization's dying
18. The Nature - Din medicin
19. TALK 5
20. Kaka - Below this sun
21. The Scrags - Psycho cyclone
22. On Volcano - Ride the wolf
23. TALK 6
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
It's all too easy to let a lowkey release like this slip under the radar, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention The Tallest Man on Earth at least a few (dozen) more times, as would befit the quality of the music. Kristian Matsson's pinched nasal delivery may be off-putting to some much like that other big-name folky he's often compared to, but I find that his plaintive approach serves his songs well. Rustic and unadorned, there is no need for embellishment, vocal or otherwise -- the music speaks for itself through a simple voice and a fingerpicked guitar.
"The wild Hunt" is the title track of his latest album and it is a marvel of instant nostalgia and gentle wistfulness. "I plan to be forgotten when I'm gone, yes I'll be leaving in the fall" I aim to defy.
01. Anna Bergendahl - Yours sincerely
02. Mikael Wiehe - Ta det tillbaka!
03. Crashdïet - Generation wild
04. Rolandz - Jajamen
05. Hellsingland Underground - Madness & grace
06. The Playtones - Rock'n roll dance party
07. Salem al Fakir - Ignore this
08. Petter - En räddare i nöden
09. Khoma - A final storm
10. Cookies n Beans - Beg, borrow and steal
11. Rigmor Gustafsson & Radio String Quartet Vienna - Calling you
12. Lars Winnerbäck - Tänk om jag ångrar mig och sen ångrar mig igen
13. Di Leva - Lovestar
14. Melissa Horn - Säg ingenting till mig
15. Amanda Jenssen - Happyland
16. Perikles - Var ska vi sova inatt - en samling
17. Kristina - At Carnegie Hall - Kristina - At Carnegie Hall
18. Björn Skifs - Da capo
19. Timo Räisänen - The anatomy of Timo Räisänen
20. The Tallest Man on Earth - The wild Hunt
As I offhandedly mentioned the other day, the new Mikkel Meyer record "Bacon" is pretty great, easily one of the best electronica releases I've heard in 2009. For a while I had him confused with Mikkel Metal, another Danish electronic artist whose work tends to be jazzier, more minimal, and frankly, pretty damn boring, but lucky for Meyer, his work is nothing like that at all. "Tunge" is one of the few non-instrumental tracks from the record and sees him paired with rapper Non from Chicago-based act ShadowHuntaz, quite a complementary pairing I'd say. Non's basso profundo voice works quite well on top of Meyer's gut-churning worble and staggering beats. Twisted in all the right ways, I say, not like a lot of the over-quantized easy-listening garbage that normally gets sent my way. It's got character, damn it! Hear more at label Statler & Waldorf's website: http://www.statler-waldorf.dk/
The new Gorgoroth album "Quantos possunt ad Satanitatem traHunt", the first with the new Gaahl and King-less lineup, is finished and confirmed for a European release on October 21, November 11 in the US. Go here for a studio report: http://www.sheol-magazine.com/gorgoroth_studio.htm
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show Sirius XMU:
01. TALK 1
02. Entombed - Kick out the jams
03. Ironville - The wild
04. Florence Valentin - 8 & 5
05. TALK 2
06. Sweatmaster - Calling Satan, let me in
07. Viola - Shimmery summery (sha-la-la love)
08. Marit Bergman - Thoughts grow darker in the night
09. Nutid - Bodensia
10. TALK 3
11. The Bear Quartet - Millions
12. Enter the Hunt - Fighters
13. The Sods - Irene the doorbell
14. Lacrosse - It's always Sunday around here
15. TALK 4
16. Mattias Alkberg - Jag är en antenn
17. Pintandwefall - Angus
18. Anna Maria Espinosa - Glowing with you
19. Arvid - Kan inte hålla dig kvar
20. Kristofer Åström - Come out
21. TALK 5
22. Björn Kleinhenz - Krokås
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XMU. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
Susanna Brandin from the excellent act Winter Took His Life has started a new band called Hunt. Check out three demo tunes at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/Huntgbg
Swedish melodic hard-rock act Enter the Hunt has a new single called "Fighters" and you can stream it at their new website along with a bunch of b-side remixes: http://www.entertheHunt.com